Ongaku

On-Gaku: Our Sound was a pleasant surprise, and ended up being one of the funniest movies I've seen in ages. Much of it feels like it's scratching my exact kind of humour; I'm a sucker for deadpan/understated absurdity, and On-Gaku has that in spades, especially early on.

It's a creative look at a trio of young guys who want to start a band, even though they have no musical talent. It's a premise that's been done before, but the scrappy charm and amazing sense of humour found in On-Gaku make it soar.

If I had one complaint, it's that it got a little slow for me around the middle, maybe suggesting that even at just 71 minutes, it struggles to fill that runtime entirely. It was never boring for long, thankfully, and proved able to find increasingly strange and entertaining tangents to go on. I don't know if it'd be for everyone, but I enjoyed myself a lot.

Have you ever feel that sensation when a music deeply touch you? Well, this movie's a representation of that. A simple yet stylish one at that.

I know some people would be put off by how simple the art is, but don't be fooled. Because they have more trick up it's sleeve that will blow your mind. Especially when the music affect the characters deeply, the style change into and become more vibrant, expressive, almost experimental.

Also, even though the plot throughout the whole movie is not impressive and the dialogue is banal. There is still something about it. Probably that help with how the movie show contrast between living ordinary life and doing something you love, something that you cherish a lot. In this movie's case it's music.

This one's felt very raw but fun. Definitely a nice watch if you're familiar with Japanese movie. It has that slow paced japanese movie feel to it.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this movie to anyone who cares about music or animation, and ESPECIALLY to people who care about both. The mix of deadpan humor and extremely kinetic music scenes make for a thoroughly entertaining combination. This is definitely the type of movie that will make you want to pick up an instrument right after it ends, and it's impressive how well the feeling of a music performance is communicated. In the midst of a pandemic that has left many craving a good concert experience for months on end, this movie felt like a blessing.

My one note of caution is that if you're going into this film looking for dramatic stakes and a heartfelt love story, you'll probably be disappointed. This is a charming story about some friends who play music together, and it doesn't try to be much else. But in a genre that already has a huge list of overly-dramatized music stories, this is perfect.

Daringly different. So refreshing. And funny. Beautifully animated. It has the makings of a cult classic. I think I will re-watch this many times. I love it!